No one’s baby, Magadh Express often runs late

Patna: Once a premier train from Patna to New Delhi and back, Magadh Express (22401-22402) is now referred to as a ‘jinxed train’ as it is often late, causing much hardship to passengers.

The train, which now originates from and terminates at Islampur instead of Patna at the Bihar end, used to be arguably the fastest and most reliable train in 1990s. Sampoorna Kranti and Rajdhani Express had then not been introduced on the route and Shramjeevi Express, running on a longer route via Lucknow, was never the first choice for travellers from the Bihar capital to the national capital and vice versa.

The punctuality of the train got adversely affected when it was extended up to Islampur in Nalanda district in early 2000s. Frequent incidents of alarm chain pulling between Buxar and Bihta under the Danapur division of railways leads to detention of the train at unscheduled stoppages almost every day.

Also, it often gets stuck between Kanpur and Allahabad under the Northern Central Railway (NCR) as NCR controlling officials run it arbitrarily, sources said. More info